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Charity and Penitence |
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| Charity: |
Visit for a suitable time their brothers and
sisters in need or in difficulty (the sick, the imprisoned, the elderly
living alone, the handicapped, etc.), as if making a pilgrimage to Christ
present in them (cf. Mt 25:34-36) Fulfill the usual spiritual and sacramental conditions and saying the
usual prayers to gain plenary indulgence. |
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Actions which express in a
practical and generous way the penitential spirit which is, as it were,
the heart of the Jubilee.
- abstaining for at least one whole day from
unnecessary consumption (e.g., from smoking or alcohol, or other goods
of one's choice), or,
- fasting, or,
- practicing abstinence (from meat or other food
according to the norms of the bishops conference) and donating a proportionate sum of money to the poor
(such as one would save by the abstinence), or,
- supporting by a significant contribution works of
a religious or social nature (especially for the benefit of abandoned
children, young people in trouble, the elderly in need, foreigners in
various countries seeking better living conditions), or,
- devoting a suitable portion of personal free time
to activities benefiting the community, or,
- other similar forms of
personal sacrifice.
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The following conditions
must be fulfilled whenever we seek to gain a Plenary Indulgence (complete
remission of the temporal punishment due to sin). These general conditions
are in addition to the specific conditions of the indulgenced work (e.g. a
pilgrimage).
- Be Baptized and not excommunicated
- A subject of the one granting the indulgence.
(Since it is the Pope granting the Jubilee Indulgence all Catholics of
any Rite meet this condition.)
- Be in the State of Grace, at least at the end of
doing the indulgenced work.
- Have at least a General Intention to gain the
indulgence. (This can be fulfilled by making a general intention at
the beginning of the day to gain the indulgences for which one is
eligible that day, or, by making a specific intention at the time of
doing the indulgenced work.)
- Do the Prescribed Work. (This is the pilgrimage,
charity, penitence, etc., and any conditions associated the specific indulgenced
work.)
- Sacramental Confession, several days before or
after the indulgenced work. In a Feb. 2000 document on Indulgences the
Apostolic Penitentiary stated that the allowable time should be
considered to be "about 20 days." One confession suffices
for several plenary indulgences.
- Communion, several days before or after (to
"about 20 days"), but is most fittingly received on the day
that the work is done. A unique Communion is necessary for each
plenary indulgence.
- Prayers for the Intentions of the Pope (such as a
Creed, or an Our Father and Hail Mary, though no particular prayer is
prescribed). These prayers may be made several days before or after,
but are most fittingly made on the day the work is done.
- Detachment from all sin, even venial sin.
Incomplete detachment from sin would result in the receipt of only a
partial indulgence for that work. It is this disposition to renounce
all attachment to our sins which opens our heart to the receipt of the
full remission of the temporal guilt of sin, which God desires
to grant us through the Church.
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